


Return to Erebor

by PumpkinSparks8616



Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Bear with Bilbo's daughter's name, Bilbo thought they were dead, F/M, Fix it -AU, M/M, Mpreg, it gets explained
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-04
Updated: 2014-10-16
Packaged: 2017-12-10 10:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/784959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PumpkinSparks8616/pseuds/PumpkinSparks8616
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Sweet Valar…” He whispered pressing his eyes closed and curling as tight as possible on the floor. The ghosts of his past were haunting him now while he was awake now? Was he to get no respite? </p><p>“Ghosts? Did he just say ghosts?” Kili’s voice demanded and Bilbo hadn’t even realised he was speaking aloud. Bilbo felt a solid hand on his shoulder and flinched before his mind caught up, ghosts couldn’t touch you, at least not with such warm hands.</p><p>“You’re alive.” He whispered forcing himself to his feet so fast that his head spun once more.</p><p>After the BOFA Bilbo thinks Thorin, Fili and Kili are dead so he returns to Hobbiton. Little did he know that he was carrying a new life inside of him. </p><p>He gets the shock of his life when after three years Fili and Kili turn up on his doorstep demanding a reason for why he didn't stay in Erebor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hobbiton

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own The Hobbit. If I did there would be no need for this fanfic would there!

Bilbo sighed as he looked around his home, everything was the same and yet so different. It was almost four years to the day since Dwalin had first knocked on the door and almost three years since he had come home.

“Daddy! Daddy look! Look what I have!” The front door to the hobbit hole was pushed inwards with such strength it rebounded off the wall.

“Dizzie Baggins!” His daughter pulled to a stop so quick she skidded a few steps.

“Sorry Daddy! But look!” In her hands was clutched a pretty green rock which he guessed she had found on the river bank if the state of her feet were anything to go by.

“Sorry Uncle Bilbo I tried to get her to slow down.” Frodo, his nephew, ran up to the house, out of breath, his feet just as mucky.

“It’s fine, but if either of you are expecting any sort of food then you best go wash your feet around back okay?” They both nodded and at the promise of food ran around to the back garden. Dizzie had dropped her stone too Bilbo noticed, he tutted at the slight dent it had made in the floor and picked it up, it really was a pretty stone.

Dizzie had an affinity for pretty rocks, not that that surprised Bilbo at all given her parentage. For the first few months it had been painful to look at her to closely for her resemblance to her father. She had his long dark hair, though as she grew it was twisting more towards a Hobbit’s curls, and her eyes were the same piercing blue that Bilbo remembered staring straight through him, the only parts of her face that Bilbo could distinctly pick out as his were her nose (something he let himself feel a little grateful for). Even her feet were less hobbit than dwarf; she was often teased for her lack of hair.

“Look Daddy we’re both clean!” Dizzie called as she ran through the house to the kitchen where he was readying their supper. Frodo ran after her trying to get her to slow down, the poor boy was run ragged looking after her, not that he would have it any other way.

“Okay now go sit at the table and I’ll bring out dinner.” Bilbo sighed as he watched her go. She was such a beautiful child and while he had never regretted having her in his life, he did wish that her other father was alive to see how beautiful she was.

Thorin had died at the Battle of the Five Armies along with Fili and Kili and Bilbo had not been able to bear the thought of returning to Erebor without them. The mountain held nothing for him; he did not even want to see his fourteenth of the treasure.

The only thing that had stopped him wasting away in the fashion of the elves was the presence of life in his stomach. He could not let himself die knowing his child and a child of Thorin’s would die as well.

With Hobbit pregnancies being only six months long, he gave birth one month before reaching Bag End thankful for the elf guide that Thranduil had sent back with him who had helped him with minimal questions.

Returning to Bag End with a child in tow had been the talk of Hobbiton for far too long. It had been months before he could walk outside with Dizzie and not be stared at. Then eight months after his return Drogo, one of his closest friends and dear cousin had passed away with his wife in a dreadful accident leaving him Frodo. The poor boy had barely spoken for weeks after the incident and getting him to eat was an uphill battle even now.

But then one evening, Bilbo had awoken to Dizzie’s cries and had quickly gotten up only to be surprised to see Frodo leaning over her crib quietly talking to the little girl. From that moment on hardly an hour went past where Dizzie wasn’t in Frodo’s company.

That day had gone much like any other day since he had returned and little did Bilbo know that night as he sat down to supper that he was in for the shock of his life.

When both Dizzie and Frodo were tucked up in bed Bilbo took a few hours to himself. He wrapped himself in his favourite dressing gown and sat in front of the fire with a good book he had yet to get around to.

He had only just finished the first page when he was interrupted by a knock on the door. He froze, the last time he had had a visitor this late it had been Hamfast Gamgee calling to inform him of Drogo’s death. Paling, Bilbo quickly put his book down and hurried to the door.

When he saw who stood in the doorway the remaining blood drained from his face and he stumbled back a few paces.      

“Mr Baggins.” A sneer, oh blessed Green Lady Kili should never have that look of anger on his face. “How dare you look so horrified to see us! You are the most despicable creature to ever walk this earth. How could you do that to us? How could you leave us?”

“I…I” Bilbo barely got another syllable out before he fainted right away at the door.

 

-

 

Bilbo frowned, why was he lying on the floor? Had he had another nightmare and rolled out of bed. He opened his eyes and let out a shriek at the face so close to his. Fili, sweet, calm Fili who he had last seen with an axe sticking out of his shoulder, was leaning over him a frown on his face.

“Sweet Valar…” He whispered pressing his eyes closed and curling as tight as possible on the floor. The ghosts of his past were haunting him now while he was awake now? Was he to get no respite?

“Ghosts? Did he just say ghosts?” Kili’s voice demanded and Bilbo hadn’t even realised he was speaking aloud. Bilbo felt a solid hand on his shoulder and flinched before his mind caught up, ghosts couldn’t touch you, at least not with such warm hands.

“You’re alive.” He whispered forcing himself to his feet so fast that his head spun once more.

“Of course we’re alive!” Fili cried disbelieving. “Why would you think otherwise?”

“I…I was told you were dead!” Bilbo said, and now that he was looking upon the brothers’ faces he could hardly look away, for they both did look so much like Thorin.

“Dead? Why would such a foul rumour reach Hobbiton?” Kili demanded and Bilbo shook his head, realising as he did so that his whole body was shaking like an autumn leaf.

“It’s not a rumour, I was told outside your very tents the night of the battle.” Bilbo whispered hardly daring to hope.

“Who told you such a thing?” Kili almost yelled.

“Thranduil…” Even as he said the name Bilbo could picture the Elf King’s spiteful nature and how angry he had been at the Line of Durin. Both Fili and Kili broke off into what Bilbo knew were Khuzdul curses.

Bilbo was taken back to that night. Óin had asked him to go fetch more water and he had left Thorin’s side for less than fifteen minutes but when he reached the tent again Thranduil was standing in front of it offering his condolences, Bilbo had demanded to see the King, unable to believe it, but Thranduil had told him that Thorin had already been moved, along with his nephews.

Thranduil had then offered an escort to take him back to Hobbiton.

Why the elf king had been so cruel Bilbo couldn’t imagine but he had a sudden dark thought of his hands around that pale neck.

“T-Thorin…?” He whispered and the brothers both froze.

“You thought he was dead too?” Fili asked and suddenly Bilbo’s legs weren’t enough to hold him up any longer.

“He’s alive!” He gasped tears streaming down his face. Thorin, his love, was alive.

“We’re so sorry Bilbo! If we had known we’d have come so much sooner. Uncle would have come himself!” Kili said his own voice thick with tears.

“You must come back with us!” Fili stated wrapping his hand around Bilbo’s arm and pulling him up so he could direct him to a chair.

“Come back…”

“Yes to Erebor! You have to! You still love Uncle don’t you!?” Kili was getting that look on his face where he got way to ahead of himself; Bilbo couldn't just up and leave anymore, he had things to think about now other than just himself.

“Daddy…” Speak of the devil. Dizzie was standing in the doorway to her bedroom rubbing her eyes with her ted clutched firmly in one hand. She was frowning as she took in the sight of two strange men leaning over her father with the door still hanging wide open. “What’s happening?”

“Don’t worry Sweet pea, these are just two friends of Daddy’s, just go back to bed.” Bilbo said softly smiling to reassure her. Now was not the time to introduce them. He’d do that in the morning.

“I’m cold.” Dizzie whispered.

“That’ll be the door.” Bilbo said standing swiftly to shut it. He hurried over to his daughter and pulled her into his arms before he tucked her back into bed. “Sorry about that lovely. Just go back to sleep okay?”

She was already dropping off by the time he’d left the room.

“A daughter? You have a daughter?” Kili gasped.

“You can hardly blame him for moving on Kili, he thought Uncle was dead!” Fili said though he was frowning heavily too.

“Moving on? No I haven’t moved on-” Bilbo tried to explain but they cut him off.

“If getting married and having kids isn’t moving on I don’t know what is!” Kili said looking terribly upset.

“I didn’t get married-”

“Oh so she’s born out of wedlock?” Fili asked and Bilbo shook his head.

“She’s Thorin’s.” Bilbo finally got out and that stopped the brothers short.

“Thorin’s?” Kili said slowly. “But Uncle doesn’t have any children. Trust us, we’d know!”

“Yes he does. She is mine and Thorin’s. I carried her.”

“But that’s impossible! Males can’t carry children!” Fili cried.

“Some Hobbits can, especially those of the Took line. My great, great grandfather Isengrim Took married a fairy and well you know what that sort of blood does to a respectable family.” Bilbo was rambling and he knew it so he snapped his mouth shut and waited for the questions, he knew that male pregnancy was rare in hobbits and impossible in the other races, it was why he hadn’t prepared or used any sort of protection when he’d laid with Thorin.

“Well then…” Fili started after a few minutes pause to get his head around the idea. “You must come to Erebor!”

“Fili… it’s not that simple. My children have a life here I can’t just uproot them from it and drag them halfway across the world.”

“…Children? She’s a twin?” Kili looked ready to faint at the news but Bilbo shook his head.

“No, sorry, her cousin Frodo, my nephew. He’s been entrusted to my care ever since his parent’s died two years ago.” Bilbo clarified.

“You have to come! You just have to! Doesn’t your daughter have a right to know her lineage? She deserves to know who her other father is! She deserves to meet him!” Fili yelled and Bilbo quickly shushed him glancing back at the doors to the children’s bedrooms.

“She knows who her father is; I have not lied to her. When she asked me I told her the truth and she knows all about our adventure. She hardly ever goes to sleep at night without me telling her one part or another of it.” Bilbo said softly. “But I am going to ask both her and Frodo first. If both of them agree to it… I will come to Erebor.”

Before Bilbo knew what was happening he was being pulled into a tight hug by the two brothers. He was put down at the sound of Kili’s stomach grumbling and he hurried to the pantry and put together some food for the brothers who had been travelling at a hard pace to reach Hobbiton.

“…Your daughter… what’s her name?” Fili asked cautiously as if he wouldn’t be allowed to know. Bilbo blushed and stammered for a moment.

“Dizzie.” They both frowned.

“Odd name.” They said in unison before quickly trying to apologize him.

“It must be a hobbit name,”

“We’re sorry we didn’t mean any offence,”

“It’s just-”

“It’s not a hobbit name.” Bilbo said softly.

“What sort of name is it then?” Fili asked.

“A dwarf one.” Bilbo said and at their confused faces he elaborated. “It’s a nickname. Her full name is Dís Belladona Baggins. It’s the only female dwarf name I knew besides Glóin’s wife’s name and I wanted to honour Thorin and you both…”

“You named your daughter after our mother?” The both looked gobsmacked.

“Uh… yes, is that not okay?” Bilbo asked wincing.

“Dwarf children are rare and so to name a child after someone… it is considered the highest honour to have a child named after you.” Fili explained and Bilbo blushed.

“Would, uh, would Thorin like the name?” Bilbo wasn’t about to change it and when Thorin had spoken of his sister he had often sounded like he had a great deal of respect for her, but Bilbo needed to know.

“He loves our mother dearly. I know he will be pleased with her name.” Kili grinned at his brother. “But the little one won’t be able to get away from our mother for all that she will love her.”

“That’s good.” Bilbo smiled, it pleased him that Thorin would like the name.

“Come; tell us about her and this young Frodo.” For long into the night they talked, keeping mostly away from topics other than the children and before Bilbo knew it he was waking to the dawn in his armchair with two dwarves unconscious at his feet.


	2. Decided Then

Chapter Two – An Unexpected Journey

Bilbo had to rub his eyes twice that morning just to make sure he hadn’t dreamt up Fili and Kili turning up on his doorstep. But no, they were still there, curled together on the floor in front of the now dead fire. He stood slowly careful not to wake them, he knew how taxing the journey from Erebor was and wasn’t about to wake them needlessly, besides he had things to do before they woke.

With a quick glance at how light it was getting outside the windows he hurried into Frodo’s room and woke him gently.

“Uncle Bilbo?” Frodo murmured sleepily, normally he would get another half hours sleep but Bilbo wanted to talk to his children before Fili and Kili woke, he knew that if they were introduced his children would be so bewitched by the characters in his stories that they would agree without thought to travelling to Erebor.

“Sorry Frodo, but I need you to come with me to talk for a minute okay?” Frodo nodded and sleepily followed Bilbo through to Dizzie’s room. He was still so sleep-eyed that he didn’t even notice the dwarves curled up by the fireplace.

Once Dizzie was awake and they were both functional Bilbo sat down with them on his daughter’s bed.

“I want you both to know, that no matter what, I am not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do alright?” Once they had both nodded he elaborated. “Last night I got a very surprising visit from two old friends of mine.”

“The big men from last night?” Dizzie asked frowning and Bilbo nodded.

“Their names are Fili and Kili…” Bilbo paused at the gasp his children let out but shushed them quickly. “I thought they were dead until last night but there is more than that, they also told me that Dizzie’s father is also alive.”

Bilbo watched as his daughter’s face lit up while Frodo frowned and his heart tore it two at the thought of having to go against one of their wishes.

“You…want to go to Erebor?” Frodo asked slowly and Bilbo bit his lip.

“This is not about what I want, no matter what, I will not force either of you to leave home. If you want to stay, we stay.” Bilbo said. He held up a hand to slow Dizzie’s excited outburst “But we have been invited to go to Erebor, you have to know that it’s a long journey to get there so we’ll probably stay there for a long while before coming home again…”

He finally nodded to Dizzie and she let out a tiny squeal.

“Are they Fili and Kili like the troll story!?” She burst out and Bilbo smiled while nodding, it was her favourite story to hear and by now she could tell it as if she had been there herself. “So they’re my cousins?”

“Yes, wait a second Dizzie.” She was already climbing off the bed and trying to see the heroes from her stories. “Now I want you to think about this really carefully. If we go to Erebor you won’t see young Samwise or Merry or Pippin for quite a long while. You won’t have your beds in Bag End and the lonely mountain is very different from the Shire. I need you to really think hard about whether you want to go.”

He already knew his daughters answer, while she loved Frodo’s friends and they her, they had always been just that; Frodo’s friends, she was quite a shy girl around people she didn’t know and her dwarf heritage didn’t make it any easier for her to make friends, she would jump at the chance to go on an adventure. It was Frodo he was mainly talking to, the young hobbit had already lost so much, and to uproot him again might be more than his nephew could bear.

Dizzie seemed to understand this too, for she turned to her cousin with wide pleading eyes but Bilbo stopped her with a stern look. Frodo couldn’t make this decision for her sake, he had to want to go of his own accord.

Frodo was frowning at the bed spread, his hands clenched into fists.

“Would…Would we come back to visit?” He asked softly and Bilbo let out a great sigh of relief. He reached forward and grasped his nephew’s hands tightly.

“Of course we would, I couldn’t let Bag End go to the Sackville Bagginses now could I!?” That at least drew a smile to Frodo’s face, it was often joked about in their home about how much Bilbo disliked Lobelia.

“Could Sam and Merry and Pippin come to visit?” Bilbo winced; this one was much more difficult to answer.

“Probably not for a while, they are still very young and their parents will probably not agree. But in a few years after you’ve come back so many times with stories of the grandeur of Erebor I’m sure wild horses couldn’t keep them away. Not to mention the fact that Farmer Maggot will probably have chased Merry and Pippin out of Hobbiton by then!” Frodo’s smile was wider now and he nodded causing Dizzie to let out a loud whoop of joy.

“I’ll go.” Frodo said slowly and Bilbo brought his nephew into a tight hug, he hadn’t let himself think of leaving until those words had left Frodo’s lips, but he was going to see Thorin again, and the rest of the company. An ache he had long grown used to deep in his chest eased slightly at the thought.

“Now, shall we go see about introducing you to your cousins?” Dizzie squealed but even so waited for Bilbo to leave the room first, she was still almost cripplingly shy around strangers, and heroes to her or not, these dwarves were still strangers to her.

Fili and Kili were sitting up when Bilbo entered his living room, both had their heads together in quiet conversation which stopped as soon as the hobbits caught their eyes. Then they were up on their feet so fast it made Bilbo dizzy.

“Hello!” Kili burst out, almost unable to control his excitement. Fili held his brother back at noticing how shy the two fauntlings looked. Dizzie had hidden herself behind his legs.

“Fili, Kili, may I introduce to you Frodo Baggins, son of Drogo Baggins, my nephew and my daughter Dís Belladona Baggins, daughter of Thorin Oakenshield.” Bilbo motioned his children forward and smiled as Frodo took his daughter’s hand to calm her.

“Fili…”

“And Kili…”

“At your service!” Dizzie’s eyes went wide as the boys acted out their entrance, it was purely unintentional of course, they introduced themselves like that to anyone they wanted to impress but to Dizzie it was like walking into a fairy-tale. She squeaked and spun around to Bilbo.

“They did it Daddy! Just like in your stories!” Bilbo grinned at her, and although Frodo would never admit to it, he looked just as excited as his cousin at it.

“What’s this now? Has your father been telling stories about us?” Kili asked with a teasing grin on his face. “All good of course. For who could ever say a bad word about two fine dwarves such as ourselves!?”

“Who indeed.” Bilbo muttered dryly. While the troll story was amusing to tell, it was less amusing to remember how they had sent him off with no weapon up to three mountain trolls. The brothers grinned at him and he rolled his eyes before heading to the kitchen. “Who wants breakfast?”

The rest of the morning passed in a strange blur of Dizzie and Frodo asking so many questions of the dwarves, ‘did the troll hole _really_ smell that bad?’ 'Was Erebor really as big as Uncle Bilbo made it seem?' ‘Did they see Beorn on their journey here?’ ‘Did Ori make the knitted gloves Fili was wearing?’ Okay, so Bilbo asked lots of questions too, but that was beside the point.

And yet, despite Bilbo’s undying want to know, he didn’t ask about Thorin, knowing the dwarf was alive was enough for now. The question of why it had taken three years for Fili and Kili to come search him out was given an extremely wide berth. He didn’t want to know, he wasn’t sure he could handle the answer quite yet.

“When are we going to leave Daddy? I want to see Erebor! And Rivendell! And I want to meet Mister Beorn and Mister Radagast! Ooh and I want to see the river where you floated in barrels! Can we go see that river Daddy?” Bilbo laughed at his daughter’s enthusiasm and quietened her gently.

“I don’t know when we’ll be leaving Sweet Pea, probably in a week or so, Fili and Kili have to recover from their journey here and I want to get everything sorted around Bag End this time before running off with a bunch of dwarves.” Bilbo stopped when he noticed Fili and Kili both looked halfway gobsmacked, halfway deliriously happy.

“You’re coming to Erebor?” Kili cheered and Bilbo smiled.

“I spoke with the children before they came to see you; we’ve decided to go to Erebor.” Bilbo said smiling at the cheers the brothers let out before they began to go into reals about what Erebor was like, answering every question about gems that Dizzie could think up, even some that Bilbo had no idea how she thought up.

Sitting around the table full with food, watching his daughter and nephew become bewitched by the pictures Fili and Kili were weaving, his eyes almost watered at how happy he was. The thought that he might get to see Thorin again made his heart ache and he knew if he didn’t have his children to think about he would already be out the door on his way to Erebor without a second thought.

As it was, there was much to be done before the journey and very little time to do it in. He had better get started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, hope you like this chapter! Don't worry, the real story is going to be coming soon along with some flashbacks to Bilbo and Thorin's relationship and how it built and grew into what it became! 
> 
> That's all for now folks!


	3. Adventuring

Chapter Three – Adventuring

Bilbo had one last, long look around Bag End. It felt very much different leaving this time. When he had left the first time it had been hurried, he had packed so hurriedly that he had forgotten his handkerchief for crying out loud. Now, it felt like he had most of Bag End packed away into the small cart they would be taking most of the way to Erebor, it was slower going than riding ponies but he had two children to think about and in the long run it would be more comfortable.

“Are you ready to go Bilbo?” Fili asked hesitantly as if he thought Bilbo would change his mind. Bilbo couldn’t change his mind not now; now that he knew Thorin was alive Azog himself couldn’t stop Bilbo from going to Erebor now.

“Give me two minutes,” Internally he was going over a mental checklist of things he could have left behind.

“Okay, we’ll be waiting at the ponies when you’re ready.” Fili hoisted a giggling Frodo onto his shoulders and ran off to where the cart was waiting.

Bilbo smiled as he ran his hand over the small mark left by Gandalf. He hadn’t even thought about having it painted over in all these years, it seemed to him that to paint over it would erase his adventure, even though the thought was a ridiculous one what with him giving birth to a half-dwarf daughter.

“We’ll be missing you Mr Baggins.” Bilbo smiled over at Hamfast who gave him a wobbly smile back, Hamfast had been a firm friend since he had been Frodo’s age and it had only grown stronger over time, if there was one thing he would miss more than Bag End it would be his gardener.

“I’ll write to you, don’t worry Ham.” Bilbo said pulling his friend close and Hamfast nodded into his shoulder.

“Rightly so, you feel free to ask me any advice about setting up a garden in that godforsaken mountain, it’s not right for the young’uns to grow up without learning how to grow your prize tomatoes.” Bilbo laughed and pulled back patting Hamfast on the shoulder, trust a gardener to think about gardens in their last moments together.

Bilbo shut the door to Bag End finally and turned to the cart. Dizzie and Frodo were already sitting at the front chattering away at Fili and Kili. He didn’t even look back at Bag End as he walked down to the road; he was taking his home with him anyway.

* * *

 

 

The trolls were as ugly as he remembered them being, though they were looking a bit overgrown since he had last seen them. Dizzie and Frodo had stood in awe of the giant statues for many a minute before Dizzie dragged all of them into a re-enactment of the fight. The children knew it well enough from his stories that they were able to play different dwarves and Dizzie did an uncanny impression of Bilbo trying to reason with the trolls about not eating the ‘contaminated’ dwarves.

* * *

 

Rivendell was as beautiful as he remembered and the elves just as kind. The Mirkwood elf that had escorted him back had insisted on not stopping at Rivendell (now Bilbo knew that it was because Elrond would have told Bilbo of Thorin and his nephews’ survival).

The elves had been just as much in awe of the fauntlings as they were with the elves, elf children were extremely rare and to have two so close in age was almost unheard of aside from with twins.

 

They only ended stay a week in Rivendell and that time felt much too long to Bilbo, he was itching to get moving again and he knew his companions could sense it.

* * *

 

They left their cart at Rivendell and gained a few more surefooted ponies to carry the extra weight, they would purchase another cart once they were over the Misty Mountains but it was much too cumbersome to take with them. Dizzie and Frodo had been enchanted for the first day at riding on the ponies with Bilbo and Kili, that was, until they realised how uncomfortable it was for an inexperienced rider.

Thankfully the weather was much better across the mountain path they took and no thunder battles took place, Bilbo didn’t even know what he would have done if there had been one. They carefully avoided any caves; despite how cold it was sleeping out in the open it was safer than dropping into a goblin horde unexpectedly.

In the end it only took them two weeks to cross the mountains, but it felt like two long weeks made longer by having two cold and unhappy fauntlings with them.

 

The children had been wonderful up until that point in the journey but riding on horseback mixed with the cold and the damp had led to Dizzie catching a wheezing cough and Frodo had become grumpy due to the lack of sleep. Bilbo for one had never been happier than to see the mountains growing smaller in the distance.

* * *

 

“Bunny!” Beorn was just as huge as Bilbo remembered, with a smile like honey and snarls. He pulled the hobbit into a tight hug that stole all breath from his lungs before thankfully turning to Fili and Kili who both tried to escape but were in the end caught up in just as tight a hug. “And what do we have here!? Hobbit cubs!”

Dizzie and Frodo turned terrified eyes to Bilbo who tried to interject but surprisingly Beorn ended up being extremely gentle with the children and just patted their heads before calling someone to bring the ‘cubs’ some honey.

Bilbo looked around the giant hall which made him feel like a child once more, with its oversized tables and chairs and giant doors, and all he could think of was the first time he had arrived at this hall, his waistcoat ruined, wet and grubby from being chased by orc packs but happy all the same because he finally felt like one of the company.

Bofur, who had been pleasant to him already, had quickly, now that he had the rest of the company’s approval, become one of Bilbo’s closest friends, Bombur had started sharing his recipes, and Bifur had started not miming breaking bones at him which Bilbo would forever count as a win. Glóin had ranted to him about his wife and child in a way that Bilbo had been so charmed at that he couldn’t bring himself to ask him to stop and Óin had tended to his wounds with less grumbling. Ori had knitted him a scarf and some gloves, Nori had given him back his pocket watch (Bilbo hadn’t even noticed it missing) and Dori had shared some of his unlimited supply of teas with Bilbo. Balin had become warmer, something Bilbo didn’t think was possible and to his surprise Dwalin had started training him to use Sting.

Fili and Kili hadn’t changed at all aside from not glancing worriedly at their Uncle when they were talking to him but it was Thorin that Bilbo remembered changing the most. The dwarf king hadn’t just become warm to him, he had started seeking Bilbo out for conversation, he even watched over Dwalin training him and offered sarcastic comments that Bilbo knew were teasing and not the harsh words he had become so used to:

_“That’s pathetic Bilbo, you’re lucky you caught that orc unaware or you’dve been gutted.” Bilbo was panting heavily, his right arm felt like it was about to drop off and Dwalin’s gruff voice was grating on his last nerve. To make matters worse he was being watched by half the company who made him feel like he was one of those puppet shows the fauntlings loved at the festivals._

_“Come on Bilbo! Get him!” Fili laughed and Bilbo huffed blowing his hair out of his eyes, it really was getting much too long, he would have to cut it before long._

_Bilbo lunged forwards and Dwalin barely moved but somehow managed to catch Bilbo’s blade and did some sort of twist that had Sting flying across the field they were sparring in. It landed at a pair of heavy boots and Bilbo groaned at his humiliation, of course Thorin would see._

_“Don’t let Dwalin worry you, you’re much better than he was in his first lesson.” Thorin chuckled as Dwalin glared at him. “I remember Balin giving him such a big bruise across his backside that he couldn’t sit for a week.”_

_“Ah but let’s not forget who had the exact same bruise but had to sit on a stone throne for a week.” Dwalin was glaring at Thorin and Bilbo suddenly had the thought that Dwalin and Thorin were as him and Hamfast, agemates, he had known them to be friends but knowing that they had grown up together seemed to solidify their bond more than anything else could have._

_“You think you can teach him better?” Dwalin growled and Thorin smirked._

_“Better than you? Of course not, I will leave that to the Master of my Guard.” Thorin said bowing his head, but as Bilbo retrieved Sting he did whisper about how Dwalin had an old injury that made any attacks to his left flank harder to block._

 

Bilbo was more saddened at leaving Beorn’s than he was at leaving Rivendell, most likely due to the flood of happy memories here, and he could tell that if he had allowed it Beorn would probably have kept the ‘cubs’ for himself so charmed as he was by them. Dizzie had taken to riding around on his shoulders and absolutely loved his bear-form cuddling him like he wasn’t a ferocious animal and instead was a giant teddy bear.

* * *

 

Bilbo smiled as he looked around the clearing they had entered late last night with the fauntlings dozing in the cart already. It was the very same lake that he had first cut his hair at on the journey. He could still remember the company’s reactions.

_“Bilbo what are you doing!?” The horror stricken voice had him freezing in place. He had a razor in one hand and a lock of hair in another, he bit his lip as he saw the company had completely halted what they were doing and were watching him with the same level of horror on all of their faces._

_“Uh… I’m cutting my hair?” He murmured._

_“Why!?” Kili cried and Bilbo frowned in bewilderment._

_“Because it’s… getting long.” He answered slowly, afraid of answering wrong._

_“What!?” The high pitch was something Bilbo never thought any dwarf could hit but Ori managed it. “But…but!!”_

_“I don’t understand? Don’t any dwarves cut their hair?” He asked putting the razor down and turning his full attention to the company._

_“It is a symbol of our grief to cut our beards but to cut our hair is only something done as a terrible punishment for the most heinous of crimes.” Balin explained, he at least was coherent enough to speak._

_“Oh…” Bilbo frowned looking down at the razor. He glanced up at where his hair had come down past his eyebrows and was caught in a long moment of indecision, should he cut his hair or commit what appeared to be some heinous crime._

_“D-Do all hobbits c-cut their hair?” Bofur stuttered and Bilbo nodded._

_“Most of the girls like having their hair longer but even they keep it cut just below the shoulders.” Bilbo explained. “Of course mine won’t look particularly good given that I don’t have a mirror with me,”_

_“Let me do it.” Bilbo started and turned in shock to stare at Thorin who was frowning at him as if he thought Bilbo was insane. “If you insist upon doing… this… then please allow me to cut it.”_

_Bilbo swallowed heavily before he nodded. Every eye was on him and Thorin as he passed the razor to the king. His whole body tensed as Thorin sat behind him and began running his fingers through the hobbit’s hair._

_“It only needs about an inch off the ends.” Bilbo whispered and he felt Thorin nod before one of his curls fell to the floor in his peripheral vision. A gasp came from one of the dwarfs and Bilbo flinched slightly but Thorin’s hand cradled his chin gently and held him in place. Slowly his hair fell down his shoulders and finally Thorin whispered for him to turn around so he could cut the front._

_Somehow it felt so much more intimate this way, even though he had his eyes closed he could feel Thorin’s breath against his face and the gentle touches against his forehead made his whole face light up red._

_Finally after an age he was let go and Bilbo opened his eyes, his hands instantly going to his hair to check the length, it all seemed even and it hadn’t been cut too short._

_“Does it meet your standards?” Thorin asked stiffly and Bilbo smiled reassuringly._

_“I’m sure it’s perfect.” He suddenly had two limpets attached to his sides as Fili and Kili cried into his shoulders, “Honestly, it’s just hair.”_

_It turned out that that was the worst thing to say for then he had Bofur and Ori attached to him too and before he knew it he was in the centre of a dwarf pile._

Bilbo sat down at the lake’s edge with Frodo in front of him, the fauntling had been complaining about his hair for about a week now and it was just bad luck that it happened to be around the same place that he had first cut his hair in front of the company. Fili and Kili were watching with identical frowns on their faces that had Bilbo rolling his eyes.

“I have to do it boys, there’s nothing for it, our hair doesn’t grow out straight like a dwarf’s does.” Bilbo chuckled at the gasp when he cut through one of Frodo’s locks.

“Do you have to?” Fili whined and Bilbo just ignored him, it wouldn’t do to get distracted and give Frodo a bald patch.

“If you can’t bear to watch then go collect some firewood for some tea.” Bilbo laughed as with a huff the brothers stomped away.

“Why don’t they like you cutting my hair Uncle?” Frodo asked softly and Bilbo smiled.

“It’s a part of their culture not to cut their hair, for them it’s about as strange as wearing shoes would be to us.” Bilbo explained and Frodo nodded sagely.

“I don’t want my hair cut!” Dizzie suddenly declared but Bilbo wasn’t surprised, she had always hated having her hair cut, it was something that most definitely came from her dwarvish side and he would never deny her something that was a part of her as much as his feet were to him.

* * *

 

Bilbo had debated about Mirkwood, he didn’t want to go anywhere near the elves here, and he knew that if he even caught a glance of Thranduil, Fili and Kili’s wrath would be the least of the Elf King’s worries.

 

Fili and Kili didn’t agree until Bilbo had mentioned the children and then they had begrudgingly agreed to travel around the borders of Mirkwood, it would take them three weeks extra but in Bilbo’s mind it was worth it.

Bilbo had knew it to be bad luck to say how grateful he was that they had not run into any trouble as of yet on their journey but it seemed it was only a matter of time before something terrible happened and that terrible thing, was orcs.


	4. Dale-Refurbished

The city of Dale was so different from the burnt out husk that Bilbo had last seen, four years of reconstruction had done the city mountains of good. Where there used to be blackened skeletal structures there were now houses, the large bare patch at the centre was now a bustling marketplace. It had been four years since Bilbo had laid his eyes on the city of Dale, and he was barely conscious when he was finally able to see it once more.

He was aware that someone was carrying him, probably Fili, he remembered fuzzily that their ponies had bolted at the sight of the wargs. There was a loud shouting around him and he winced, everything felt strange, like that time he had been persuaded to try the swamp weed that ‘Doc Brandybuck had declared better than the Gamgees’ moonshine. Noises were all at once muffled and ten times louder than they should be, colours were brighter but melded together, and he had large black dots swimming in and out of his vision.

“Bilbo!” That was another thing, someone kept yelling his name, was it too much to ask for some peace? He had been journeying for so long, all he wanted was to sleep.

“Bilbo! Don’t go to sleep! Think about Dizzie! Think about Frodo! What are they going to do without you?” Bilbo frowned, he wasn’t going anywhere, he only wanted to sleep for a little bit, he would get up in time to make the fauntlings dinner.

“Thank Mahal! Finally, we’ve been calling for a healer for ten minutes; he was struck with an orc blade. He’s bled a lot!” Bleeding? Bilbo wasn’t bleeding was he?

Suddenly everything came back to him, the ambush, the fight. He had demanded that his children get under his mithril shirt and hide in the wagon, and then he had drawn sting and thrown himself into the battle besides Fili and Kili. It hadn’t lasted long, there were only five orcs, they had probably thought that their group would be an easy target what with the fact that they were travelling with a hobbit and two children.

There had been one more orc, after everything was done. Bilbo had thought it dead but it had lashed out and caught him in the ribs with the blade. Everything after that was fuzzy.

“Bilbo, it’s okay now. There’s a healer here. It’s okay.” There was something important he had to ask, but when he tried to words kept slipping away.

“Diiizzz….” He stopped and tried again. “Frrr…”

“They’re okay. Kili’s with them now, don’t worry Bilbo. They’re okay.” Bilbo smiled sleepily. The healer must have given him something to take away the pain because suddenly it was so much easier to fall asleep. The last thing he heard was Fili calling his name as everything went black.

~

It was his wound that woke him; he must have twisted the wrong way in his sleep because the sharp pain that rang through him had him brought to the surface of consciousness so fast it left him reeling.

“Bilbo! You’re awake!” He blinked his eyes open and found Kili’s face extremely close to his.

“Yes…W-Whe…” He croaked, clearing his throat before trying again. “Where are Dizzie and Frodo?”

“They’re sleeping on the other bed.” Kili motioned to the other side of the room and Bilbo turned slowly smiling as he saw Fili snoring loudly with his two children as blankets. “You scared us all for a moment.”

“They’re not going to let me out of their sight for the next few days.” Bilbo groaned and Kili scoffed.

“You’ll be lucky if I let you out of mine! What were you thinking! You’ve got children now Bilbo you can’t just go jumping into battle!” Kili glared at him and Bilbo laughed softly.

“It’s okay Kili, I’m fine.” He frowned as he prodded the bandages at his side, “I _am_ fine aren’t I?”

“Yes the healer says you’ll be back to normal in a few weeks, but he also said that an inch higher and you wouldn’t have made it to Dale to be healed!” Kili snapped. “I don’t trust him, first thing I’m going to do when we get to Erebor is have Óin have a look at you.”

“Kili, if the healer says I’m going to be fine, then I’ll be fine.” Kili sent him an unamused look. “Honestly, you’d think after four years you’d learn to trust your neighbours.” A groan from the other bed stopped the dwarf prince before he could reply. His eyes shot to the corner of the room where Fili and the fauntlings had woken from the shouting, he watched as Dizzie was on her feet and over to his bed before Fili could stop her, Frodo at her heels. She leapt onto the bed and buried her face in his shoulder.

“Daddy! You’re alive!” She sobbed and Bilbo clutched her tightly ignoring the pain that lanced through him at the movement, he opened his other arm to Frodo who was standing a little ways away watching them with an indecisive look.

“Don’t I get a hug from you too?”

Frodo’s bottom lip quivered before he leapt up beside his cousin and buried his face in Bilbo’s other shoulder.

“You were really pale and quiet.” Frodo whispered and Bilbo’s arms tightened around his children. He couldn’t even imagine how hard this must have been for poor Frodo, it must have brought up so many terrible memories of his parents’ deaths.

“I promise I’m okay. What’s an adventure without a battle right?” Bilbo asked trying to make like of the situation but both Dizzie and Frodo just buried themselves deeper into his shoulders.

“…Don’t like battles.” Dizzie said decisively and Bilbo had to chuckle.

“Yes, I was never really that fond of them either.” He agreed and she nodded into his shoulder.

“Dizzie, Frodo, why don’t you go down to the kitchens and ask the cook to send up some food for us. I bet your Uncle Bilbo’s really hungry.” Fili stated and the fauntlings practically leapt from the bed as if they had been given a mission of the utmost importance.

Bilbo frowned up at Fili who was looking slightly pale.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, we were thinking that we should move to Erebor. You’ll get the very best treatment there and it’s only a half a day’s journey away. We can hire a cart so you won’t have to worry your injuries any more than need be.” Fili stated quickly and Bilbo frowned.

“Fili. What aren’t you telling me?”

“It’s not our fault!” Kili burst out and Fili glared at him.

“What did you boys do?” Bilbo sighed, he was much too tired to deal with a guessing game.

“Well you see we weren’t sent on a mission to the Shire, we were sent to the Blue Mountains but then we had to come see you because it’s the first time in four years that we’ve been allowed out of Erebor and we wanted to give you a piece of our minds but then everything happened with Dizzie and Frodo, and you were coming with us and-”

“Kili. Tell me what is the matter this instant.”

“You see, we haven’t exactly… told anyone that you were travelling with us.” Kili said looking like he would give anything not to be in that room at that moment.

 “But I’ve seen you send ravens on numerous occasions.” He asked confused.

“Yes… uh… about that, we never actually mentioned you in any of the correspondence with home.” Fili rubbed the back of his head and gave Bilbo a sheepish grin. Bilbo, for his part, felt like he had suddenly been dumped into a bath of ice water. He had known that the boys hadn’t said anything about Dizzie, that was news that really had to be broken in person but the fact that Thorin had no idea that Bilbo himself was even coming… What if he didn’t want to see Bilbo? It had been four years after all, there had to be some reason that he hadn’t sent for Bilbo before now. Suddenly the thought that Bilbo had been pushing to the back of his mind since beginning this journey came to the forefront: What if Thorin didn’t want him anymore?

“So… there’s no guarantee that I won’t be thrown out of Erebor the moment I step foot there?” Bilbo couldn’t help the shrillness of his voice.

“That’s not going to happen! Uncle hasn’t been the same without you! He’s been withdrawn and he’s done nothing but throw himself into his work! He was going to work himself to an early grave!” Kili cried.

“Boys… the last time Thorin saw me, he was dangling me over the battlements by my neck. You mean to tell me that he has no idea or clue that I am going to walk into Erebor beside you?” Bilbo’s hands clenched in the blanket at the look on the boys’ faces. They looked simultaneously miserable and guilty.

“He won’t be mad though.” Fili said.

“Won’t be mad! The first thing you did when you saw me was yell at me!” Bilbo shouted and the boys’ flinched.

“But that was before we knew that you thought we were dead…” Kili whimpered and Bilbo took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. He didn’t want to shout and be angry at the boys, they were just doing what they thought was the best thing for the situation.

“…So… why are you in such a rush to reach Erebor?” Bilbo asked after he had calmed down some.

“It’s just the last raven we sent said that we were three days off… and it’s been four days already and Mother will not stand for a longer delay before sending out search parties.”

“Yeah and we can’t exactly send another raven saying we’ve been delayed because we’re only in Dale and she’d come down and find out we’d lied.” Kili added and Bilbo sighed running his hand over his eyes.

“Plus Dizzie really wants to see Erebor.” Bilbo narrowed his eyes and glared at Fili, that was low, using his daughter like that.

“Fine… I suppose we might as well get this reunion over with, for better or worse.” Their conversation was brought to a close as Dizzie and Frodo came running back into the room their arms full of trays filled with ridiculous levels of food.

Bilbo put the worry out of his mind for the moment. The most important thing was reassuring his children that he was fine. Besides, he was starving.


	5. Erebor

Bilbo couldn’t help but pull his hood tighter over his head, before doing the same to both Frodo and Dizzie’s. They had passed through the gates without much fanfare but as they headed to the throne room the return of the princes gathered more and more dwarrows. They had a small crowd following them by the time they reached the large stone doors. Bilbo’s hands tightened on his children and he drew to a stop, leaning slightly on Frodo as he caught his breath.

“What’s wrong Bilbo?” Kili asked and Bilbo took a deep breath.

“I’m not so sure this is a good idea.” He whispered. “Why are we going to the throne room? Why don’t I just go get the children settled into where we’ll be staying and then you can send Thorin up to see me.”

“Oh no Bilbo! We aren’t doing this in public, don’t worry.” Fili said. “We’re going to the Council Meeting. There’s one every morning around this time so that’s where the whole company will be.”

“The company are the advisors?” Bilbo asked and Kili nodded grinning.

“Yeah, all of Dain’s emissaries got really huffy about it because some of them aren’t of noble blood but Uncle just glared at them and told them that if they had bothered to get off their gold-gilded hides and come on the quest with them then they might also have a seat on his council.” He explained and Bilbo couldn’t help but shake his head in exasperation, trust Thorin to say something so coarse.

“Daddy? Are we going to meet my other Daddy now?” Dizzie tugged on his hand and Bilbo sighed, wishing he was well enough to lift her into his arms. As it was he was feeling the strain of standing upright for so long, he had ridden in the cart up until the steps of Erebor and then he had declared that he would not be lying down when he saw Thorin next. A decision he was seriously regretting now, for the spots dancing in his vision.

“Yeah, and some of Daddy’s old friends hopefully. Remember I told you about them all, Bombur and Bofur, Dwalin…” Dizzie nodded happily, though she did not let go of his hand.

“Will Mister Balin be there too?” Frodo asked Fili who grinned and nodded.

“Yeah, he’s the smartest of the lot of us. We’d be lost without him.” He said and Bilbo smiled, that sounded about right.

“Okay, let’s get this over with.” He said and Fili pushed open the heavy stone door.

The throne room was just as magnificent as he remembered it being. Perhaps even more so due to the renovations that had been made. There was not a single crumbling stone in sight. Though, the room was empty.

“We wouldn’t normally come through this way, there’s another passage that goes out of the Council Rooms to our private quarters.” Fili explained.

“We wanted to take the shortest route.” Kili said, glancing at Bilbo’s side and Bilbo nodded, thankful for that at least.

“Why is there nobody here?” Frodo asked.

“Ah that’s because it’s not a Complaint Day.” Fili said grinning and Frodo frowned in confusion.

“What’s a Complaint Day?” Bilbo couldn’t help but ask. They were drawing closer to a small tunnel at the back of the hall and he knew it wouldn’t be long before he was in the company of the one dwarf who could possibly hate him more than anything other being in Middle Earth.

“Well, they’re not technically called that. The Throne Room is only open when we have visiting dignitaries or on Thursdays when anyone who might have any sort of complaint can take it up with Thorin himself. They’re dreadfully boring and Thorin makes us go to all of them!” Kili complained.

“Well, being the heirs to the throne does have some drawbacks I imagine.” Bilbo said and Fili just shrugged.

“Some.”

They fell silent as they reached the tunnel. It only led a little ways back before stopping at a wooden door.

“That’s…” He said softly and Fili nodded.

“Do you want us to go in first?” He asked and Bilbo nodded.

Fili grabbed Kili by the arm before he could protest and dragging him to the door. Bilbo made sure to keep out of sight as the two princes disappeared into the room to a chorus of shouts. He knelt down beside Frodo and Dizzie and drew them close.

“I want you both to know that no matter what happens in there, I’m not going to let anything bad happen to either of you.” No matter what happened, if Thorin wanted to dangle him from the battlements again, Bilbo would not allow anything happen to his children.

“Why would something bad happen Daddy?” Dizzie asked frowning. “Won’t my other Daddy be happy to see us?”

“Oh sweetheart.” He pulled her tight to his side and buried his face in her hair for a long moment. “I did something quite bad the last time I saw your other Daddy and it made him very upset. I don’t know if he’s forgiven me yet. But I know that no matter what he’s going to love you and Frodo.”

There was no way he could do anything else. Even Lobelia was charmed by Dizzie who she had looked down upon for the first few months for her mixed heritage and the lack of Bilbo’s marriage to a respectable hobbit lass.

“Oh. Don’t worry Daddy, you just have to say sorry.” Dizzie said decisively and Bilbo chuckled.

“Yes, I suppose that’s all I can do.” He rose to his feet again, steadying himself against Frodo’s shoulder. The lad frowned up at him and kept a tight grip on his arm, Frodo had been the least pleased about him deciding to walk into Erebor and not ride in a cart, but all Bilbo could think about was how ridiculous he would look and how much of a crowd he would draw. The healers had said he was well enough to walk short distances, and well, after his adventure any sort of distance seemed short in comparison.

The door creaked open and Kili jumped out.

“Come on, we’ve told them we have a surprise.” Bilbo took a deep breath and walked forwards.

Shouts greeted him entrance and Bilbo smiled weakly at the company who were all gathered around the other side of the room by Fili.

“By Mahal! It’s Bilbo!” Bofur let out a joyful laugh and ran forward to hug his friend. Bilbo winced at the pressure on his wound but didn’t say anything, it felt too good to know that Bofur at least was happy to see him. “And hobbitlings!”

“Fauntlings.” Bilbo chuckled and Bofur just waved him off, kneeling down to Dizzie and Frodo’s heights.

“Hello there little ones. I’m Bofur.” Bofur held out his hand to both of them which they shook carefully.

“We know that.” Dizzie said softly and Bofur tilted his head in surprise. “You have the funny hat.”

Bofur let out a booming laugh and leapt to his feet embracing Bilbo once more.

“Telling them stories about us Bilbo?” He asked still laughing and Bilbo couldn’t help but smile.

“All bad I assure you.” He said and Bofur just kept grinning as he led them over to the other dwarrows. Bilbo could see that all of the company was there, most were grinning at him. Welcoming him. Though he couldn’t help but notice that Dwalin and Thorin, along with a dwarrowdam Bilbo was pretty sure was Dís were all glaring in his direction. He carefully kept himself between his children and the glares, hoping the fauntlings wouldn’t notice.

Bilbo couldn’t help but let his gaze get drawn back to Thorin, even with the glare he was still so very handsome. So very alive. Bilbo felt tears choke him as he took in the long scar down the side of the king’s face. There were undoubtedly so many more hidden beneath his clothes.

“I…uh…” He cursed himself in his head, now was not the time to be incoherent.

“I don’t believe we have met Master Baggins.” The dwarrowdam stepped forward, the glare still on her face and ice in her voice. But she bowed low all the same. “Dís, daughter of Lís at your service.”

“That’s my name!” Dizzie squeaked and all eyes went to her. She blushed to the roots of her hair and ducked behind Bilbo’s legs.

“You named your child after my sister?” Thorin asked, a thunderous frown forming on his brow, and that was even worse than the glare.

“I… yes. I did.” Bilbo said softly, looking down at his feet, unable to hold the gaze.

“Uh Uncle, you might want some privacy for the next conversation.” Fili said and Thorin turned his glare onto his nephew.

“Whatever the hobbit has to say he can say it in front of my Council.” He snapped and Bilbo flushed. He was back to ‘the hobbit’, it stung more than he remembered.

“Are you sure Uncle, really I think you might want to-”

“Kili. I want an explanation now.” Thorin snapped and Bilbo took a fortifying breath.

“I thought you were dead.” He said quickly and silence fell in the room. He hurried on before his courage broke, though he directed his speech to his feet. “I, uh, I was planning on staying long enough to make sure that Fili and Kili pulled through, and that Thorin survived. To apologise. But Thranduil told me that you had all died and then he said that since it was technically Thorin’s last command that I be banished it wouldn’t matter the feelings any of company had for me, they could not go against the last command of their king.”

The silence that stretched after his announcement had him shifting on his feet and pulling his children closer.

“…That bastard!” He jumped at the curse, looking up at Balin. He had never heard the dwarf curse in all the time they had travelled together. “How dare he!?”

Like a spell had suddenly been broken, the company all started chipping in with suggestions of what they could do to the tree hugging bastards but Bilbo begged them to stop once they started to get to the dismemberment bits. Dizzie and Frodo were still present after all.

“That all being said.” Dís said once the company had calmed down some. “It still does not explain why you would name your daughter after me, this is the first time that we have met.”

Bilbo flushed and looked to Fili and Kili who just waved him on encouragingly.

“I guess I should introduce my children to you all officially.” He said smiling weakly. “Everyone this is Frodo Baggins, my nephew. Son of the late Drogo and Primula Baggins.”

A chorus of greeting went out and Frodo gave a small wave before tucking himself tighter against his Uncle’s leg.

“And my daughter, Dís Belladonna Baggins, also known as Dizzie… daughter of, well, me, and Thorin Oakenshield.” Bilbo couldn’t help but look up at Thorin when he said this but the dwarf’s face had gone almost hilariously blank.

“Thorin? How is that even possible?” Dwalin grumbled and Bilbo shuffled awkwardly on the spot.

“It’s, uh, it’s an ability some male hobbits have from the Took line. Married a fairy and all that. It’s extremely rare so I didn’t…uh… prepare at all, to prevent it.” Bilbo said, biting his lip. He couldn’t stop looking at Thorin who still hadn’t said anything.

“You two dunderheads knew about this?” Dís yelled and Fili and Kili flinched, running to cower behind Bilbo.

“We wanted it to be a surprise.” Kili whimpered.

“Plus, you know, Uncle never really lifted Bilbo’s banishment so we weren’t sure if he’d be allowed here if we told you.” Fili said weakly under his mother’s glare.

Thorin’s gaze suddenly sharpened and went to Dizzie who was still hiding behind Bilbo’s legs, though she was peeking out occasionally in Thorin’s direction. She squeaked quietly when, the next time she looked, Thorin was staring back at her.

“I think we should give them some privacy.” Balin said and Bilbo could have hugged him he was so grateful. The rest of the company filtered out after ringing promises out of Bilbo that he would join them for dinner that evening.

“Why don’t you sit down Master Baggins?” Dís directed him to a chair at the table. “You’re looking pale.”

Almost instantly Fili and Kili were at his side

“Blast, we should have noticed. Why didn’t you say anything Bilbo!?” Kili snapped, Bilbo could honestly say he hadn’t noticed. It was only now that it was brought up that the throbbing pain in his side came back in a vengeance and he suddenly felt very weak. He sat down shaking.

“Uncle is it hurting?” Frodo asked and Bilbo shook his head.

“I’m okay, my lad.” He patted Frodo’s curls softly. “Just a bit out of puff.”

“What happened to you?” Thorin asked and Bilbo jumped. He had almost expected to have this conversation solely with Dís because Thorin hadn’t looked like he was going to talk anytime soon. Bilbo was wrong.

“There were some issues. With orcs.” Bilbo said wincing as he carefully prodded at his side. “I got on the wrong end of one of their swords.”

“Fili, call Óin back.” Thorin said firmly and Bilbo shook his head.

“Honestly, it’s not that bad anymore. I’ve been attended to by the healers in Dale. I can last another ten minutes.” Thorin frowned at him, but nodded and sat opposite him. Bilbo couldn’t help but notice how every few seconds his eyes would flick to Dizzie, then Frodo, then back to him. “Is there anything you want to ask?”

“How… How old?” Thorin asked cautiously.

“I’m almost four.” Dizzie said proudly holding up her hand. Bilbo smiled fondly and bent down her thumb. “See.”

“Oh… You’re big for your age.” Thorin said and Dizzie smiled brightly.

“Really? I was the smallest back home!” She squealed excitedly. “Frodo! Did you hear that? My other Daddy thinks I’m big!”

“It’s probably because dwarfs live longer darling.” Bilbo said softly. “Normally dwarfs are about fifteen before they get to your size.”

“Oh.” Dizzie frowned before shaking it off. “But I’m still big!”

“Okay.” Bilbo smiled at her but it dropped when he turned to face Thorin who was shaking his head.

“This is…” Thorin closed his eyes and pressed a fist against them.

Dizzie frowned and before Bilbo could do anything her eyes filled with tears. She sniffed and buried her head in her father’s side.

“Whoa Dizzie! Don’t cry!” Kili said urgently, kneeling down beside his cousin. “What’s wrong?”

Bilbo couldn’t help but notice the panicked look on Thorin’s face.

“Dizzie, tell me what’s wrong.” Bilbo said, carefully lifting her into his lap.

“My other Daddy doesn’t like me.” She whispered, though her whispering wasn’t exactly quiet and silence fell in the room as everyone heard what she said. Bilbo bit his lip, he had no idea what to say. He couldn’t even guess how Thorin felt for Dizzie at that moment. He heard a thump and looked up to see Dís glaring at Thorin who was rubbing his arm.

Thorin stood and walked around the table to them. Bilbo winced slightly when he tensed and the movement pulled at his wound. Thorin hesitatingly knelt down and glanced at Bilbo before gently touching Dizzie’s arm, as if he would break her.

“Um… Dís?” He asked and Dizzie sniffed, but her whimpers stopped.

“She’s called Dizzie.” Bilbo said softly and Thorin nodded clearing his throat.

“Dizzie.” She looked up at Thorin through watery eyes. “I’m sorry… It’s not that I don’t, that I don’t like you. Just… I never knew I had a daughter so I’m a bit shocked.”

Dizzie frowned wiping the tears from her eyes with her fist.

“So, you don’t know if you like me or not?” She asked and Thorin winced.

“I just, I don’t know anything about you.” He said and suddenly her whole attitude changed.

“Oh!” She said brightly. “That’s okay! I know a lot about you, so I already like you! But you don’t know anything about me since Daddy thought you were dead!”

“You know a lot about me?” Thorin asked timidly and by the Valar if that didn’t send a stab of pain right into Bilbo’s chest.

“Yep! Daddy tells me and Frodo loads of stories about his adventure! And you! He liked telling us things about you because you’re my other Daddy!” Dizzie said brightly and Bilbo sighed, blushing when Thorin looked up at him.

“Perhaps… you could tell me something about yourself. So I can get to know you better?” Thorin asked, and he sounded so nervous that Bilbo almost reached out to reassure him.

“Okay! I’m three and three quarter years old! I used to live in Bag End with Daddy and Frodo! Frodo is my bestest friend in the whole world! But I like Pippin and Merry and Sam too. My favourite foods are cheese scones and my favourite story is the troll story!” Dizzie said all in one breath and Bilbo smiled fondly.

“Ah, not the troll story.” Thorin said smiling at Dizzie. “I’m afraid I do not come across in the best light in that one. None of us dwarfs do.”

“Yeah! But I like the voices Daddy does for the trolls!” She said.

“Me too.” Frodo chirped from Bilbo’s other side.

“I hate to cut this short. Just. Um. Perhaps we could move this to somewhere I can lie down.” Bilbo could feel his head spinning. “Perhaps walking here wasn’t the best option.”

“You think!?” Both Fili and Kili chorused.


	6. Important Discussions

They were all led to a large set of rooms that Bilbo immediately protested against. There were only three of them, they didn’t need that much space, but Thorin just glowered at him until he sighed and lay down on the plush sofa. His children settled around him and the dwarfs settled in the chairs around the room. He groaned and lifted his shirt to check his stitches.

“They seem to be holding up well don’t you say Frodo?” He asked and Frodo frowned leaning in close to examine them. Bilbo had learnt early on that the best way to reassure Frodo was to keep him informed of everything going on.

“They look red.” Frodo said and Bilbo shrugged.

“That’s probably because I’ve been moving.” He said and Frodo nodded but the frown stayed on his face. Bilbo pulled his shirt down and turned to face the dwarfs. Fili and Kili had almost exactly the same frown on their face as Frodo, staring at his midriff. Thorin too seemed quite perturbed. Dís was the only one not studying him and was instead studying her niece. Dizzie in return was examining the dwarven lady.

“Is there anything you’d like to ask?” Bilbo asked and all eyes returned to his face.

“You said something about your ancestor lying with a fairy being the reason for your…ability?” Thorin asked after a long pause and Bilbo nodded.

“Yes, that’s how the story goes anyway. It hasn’t happened in centuries so I suppose it became more of a myth than fact.” Bilbo said glancing at his children. He didn’t exactly feel comfortable discussing Dizzie’s conception with her in the room.

“Can I ask a question?” Dizzie chirped.

“Of course darling.” Bilbo said ruffling her hair.

Dizzie fidgeted for a moment longer, glancing between Dís and Thorin.

“I assure you young one, your question will not offend us.” Dís said smiling and Bilbo smiled gratefully back.

“Do all girl dwarfs have beards?” Dizzie asked in a rush, her hand came up to stroke her hairless chin and Dís’ smile widened her own hand reaching to stroke the angular, geometric designs adorning her cheeks.

“Yes. Beards are a great source of pride for both female and male dwarfs.” She explained and Dizzie nodded her expression dropping slightly.

“Oh.” Bilbo’s heart went out to his daughter. She had never quite fit in with her hobbit agemates and he knew she would probably run into similar problems in Erebor.

“Hey don’t worry Dizzie! Kili didn’t grow his beard until he turned thirty!” Fili said and Dizzie looked to Kili who was glaring at his brother.

“Really?” She asked and Kili huffed before nodding. “So I might grow a beard?”

It was almost funny to see the indecision on his daughter’s face, on the one hand she had realised that growing a beard would help her fit in, and on the other she had the hobbit ideals of beauty running through her head.

“You might darling but you might not. You’re the first dwobbit so we can’t be sure.” It was a term Fili and Kili had taken to calling Dizzie and she loved the idea of being unique.

“I guess…” She said pouting. The room fell silent for a while longer and Bilbo clamoured for something to say to fill it. He knew there were things they couldn’t talk about with the fauntlings there, but he was reluctant to have them away from his side so those conversations would have to take place in the evening when they fell asleep.

“Hey Dizzie Frodo! Why don’t we go get some dinner and bring it back here for your Dad?” Kili said leaping to his feet and Bilbo almost protested but for the looks on his children’s faces. They obviously wanted to see more of Erebor and Bilbo supposed it might be best to get some of the difficult conversations out of the way.

Dizzie scrambled to her feet and ducked in to give him a hug.

“I’ll see you later Daddy.” She chirped before turning to Thorin. “What’s your favourite food?”

“Oh…uh…” Bilbo had never seen Thorin at such a loss for words before.

“He likes Bombur’s cherry pies.” Dís said for him and Dizzie grinned nodding. “I like his pear ones.”

“I’ll bring some back if I find some okay?” With that Dizzie grabbed one of Kili’s hands and one of Frodo’s and dragged them from the room. Fili gave Bilbo a reassuring smile before following leaving Bilbo alone with Dís and Thorin.

“I want to say sorry.” Bilbo said staring resolutely at the floor. “I know that you must be furious. I know I would be if I’d missed four years of my daughter’s life. My only excuse is that I thought you were dead. If I had known, if I had even thought that you might be alive I would never have let you miss her…Unless you don’t want her here. I understand it could make things difficult with Fili being the heir and all. By Yavanna I didn’t even think about that before I left. Fili never said anything-”

“Master Baggins.” Bilbo bit his lip as Dís cut him off. He was rambling. “We would appreciate if if you looked at us during this conversation.”

It took monumental effort to move his eyes from the ground and up to Dís’ face. He couldn’t look at Thorin yet.

“Firstly the question of succession is one that we will put aside to be discussed at a later date with both Fili and Balin present.” Bilbo nodded, that made sense. “Secondly I think I speak for both my brother and myself when I say that you have nothing to apologise for.”

“I just…” Bilbo trailed off when he glanced at Thorin and found him with a face like a thundercloud.

“You have nothing to apologise for Bilbo. This was not your fault.” He growled and Bilbo swallowed. “The fault lies with Thranduil…and with myself for ever laying a hand on you, for ever letting those treacherous words escape my lips.”

“Thorin you weren’t in your right mind. I knew that.” Thorin shook his head so fiercely his braids spun.

“No. The gold fever was no excuse.” He paused and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes tightly for a few seconds. “That I banished you was bad enough but worse is the fact that after the battle, after I was fully healed I still did nothing to seek you out. I let my pride stop me. I found myself thinking that you…”

Thorin stopped and shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter now.” Bilbo said, and he truly meant it. He could see how this would grow to torture Thorin if he did nothing to stop it. “All we can do is make up for lost time. Ask now and I shall tell you anything about Dizzie you want to know.”

“I have something you have yet to clarify.” Dís said and Bilbo nodded. “You have still not said why you named your daughter after me. I understand that she is Thorin’s daughter but to honour me in such a way is unheard of. We have never met before.”

Bilbo shook his head smiling.

“I may have never met you in person but I travelled with your brother and sons for months. Hardly a bad word passed their lips about you. All they could talk of was your strength, your intelligence. And you raised Fili and Kili to be the dwarfs they are this day. I may not have met you but I knew enough of you to know that yours is a name to strive to live up to. An honour I bestowed upon my daughter so that she couldn’t forget her dwarven heritage, not that the hobbits of the Shire could see Dizzie for anything less that the dwarf she is.” Bilbo said and he was surprised to see Dís’ eyes fill with tears.

“You honour me with your words.” She said softly and Bilbo just tilted his head in acknowledgement. He didn’t draw attention to her tears.

“The hobbits knew Dizzie was half dwarf?” Thorin asked.

“Well they suspected when I brought her back with me after running off into the blue with a company of thirteen dwarfs. It wasn’t until she started running around picking up every shiny stone she found that they truly knew.” Bilbo explained and a bewildered smile rose on Thorin’s lips.

“She has knowledge of stone?” He asked and Bilbo shrugged.

“As much as I could give her. I told her all the names of the different stones she brought to me, I’m sure she’ll enjoy having someone to talk to about it. Her agemates never could understand her fascination.” Bilbo said

“Perhaps she might like to see the mines?” Thorin asked.

“So long as they’re safe I don’t see why not.”

“I assure you no harm will come to my daughter within these halls.” Thorin said, a fierce look passing over his face for a moment and Bilbo felt his heart ache, that his daughter and Thorin had missed so much of each other.

“Aside from her affinity for rocks does she favour dwarfs in other ways? She appears mostly hobbit to me.” Dís said before hurrying to reassure him, “Not that that is a bad thing. I mean in appearance.”

“Well her feet are less hobbit than dwarf. Smaller with less hair. Though she hates to wear shoes the same as us.” Bilbo wriggled his toes self-consciously when both sets of eyes fell to them. “She also hates having her hair cut.”

“You cut your hair?” Dís asked raising her hand to her chest in shocked horror and Bilbo almost huffed. It seemed that dwarfs just could not understand that people outside their race had different cultures. Even Thorin who had helped Bilbo cut his hair on their adventure still looked pale at the mention of it.

“Yes. Both mine and Frodo but the first time I ever tried with Dizzie she screamed until she was blue in the face so I did not try again. It is part of her heritage.” Bilbo said and Dís nodded though she still looked mildly horrified.

“She does not wear braids?” Thorin asked and Bilbo shrugged.

“It isn’t a common practise in the Shire, I’m fairly certain I could not do them justice.” Bilbo said and Thorin frowned. “If she wants, you can braid her hair for her.”

“You… You would allow me the honour?” Thorin sounded absolutely wounded and Bilbo took a shaky breath. He could remember that night in Lake-Town when Thorin had ran his fingers through Bilbo’s hair and declared that when they reclaimed Erebor he would braid gold and silver beads into Bilbo’s hair declaring him Thorin’s for all time. He remembered Thorin explaining that braiding was a sacred right only done by close family or spouses.

“I’m sure Dizzie would love it.” Bilbo smiled weakly, staring back at the floor. It was a relief that the door burst open then to reveal Dizzie carrying a tray filled with a pile of pies so high that Bilbo wondered if they could even eat them all.

“Mister Bombur had lots of pies. He gave me cherry and lime, pear and cinnamon and lots of apple ones because those are mine and Frodo’s favourite. He gave us meat ones too. Chicken and Beef and Lamb.” Dizzie placed the trays on the short table between the seats and Bilbo twisted to sit upright.

“They smell wonderful thank you.” Bilbo smiled at his daughter who grinned back.

“Daddy it’s so amazing! There’s stone everywhere! And we went passed actual gold!” She exclaimed. “Right in the wall! Fili said they don’t mine it there because the wall is too weak but that they mine it down underneath our feet! It’s so cool!”

“It is most impressive.” Bilbo smiled. “Thorin has asked if you’d like to go see the mines with him at some time?”

“Really?” Dizzie gasped spinning to Thorin who nodded smiling uncertainly.

“If you’d like to. Frodo too.” Thorin said nodding at the lad who nodded.

“Thank you!” Dizzie squeaked rushing forward to hug Thorin. The dwarf looked so shocked that it might have been funny if it was not so heart-breaking. Thorin carefully wrapped his arms around his daughter’s small frame and Dizzie hugged him tighter, for slightly longer before she pulled away and ran to the pies declaring she was going to try one of each. She didn’t see Thorin reach to rub a tear from his eyes but Bilbo saw and he couldn’t help his answering smile. Maybe everything would be okay here in Erebor.


	7. Welcome Back

They did not speak for much longer, they couldn’t. Dís and Thorin had to leave to attend to a routine check down in the mines (though Bilbo suspected that it was more to have some space so Thorin could wrap his mind around what was going on that anything else). Though they did promise to return in time for dinner that evening with the rest of the company.

“Yeah, it was Bofur’s idea originally!” Kili chirped after Bilbo questioned it. “We all got so busy in the months after the battle that he decided that we should all eat together in the evenings if we could, before we knew it, it became tradition.”

“That’s nice.” Bilbo couldn’t help but smile through the sharp pain of hurt. If he hadn’t left then he would have been included in that tradition. He wouldn’t have had to have Dizzie at the edge of a forest with nothing but an elf and a sterilised dagger for help. His hand clenched in his shirt over where his scar was, despite the healing abilities of the elves it was an ugly mark. By far the worst of his scars, and wasn’t that ironic, months travelling the world being chased by all sorts of foul creatures only to have his most impressive wound be by the hand of an ally.

A knock on the door broke Bilbo out of his reverie but before he could even think of getting up Kili practically sat on his legs while Fili ran to open the door.

“You are not moving for the rest of the day.” Kili demanded and Bilbo rolled his eyes.

“I’m fine, honestly, I just needed to rest a moment.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Óin raised a bushy eyebrow down at him and Bilbo couldn’t help but smile widely at the old dwarf, over the course of their journey they had become close over swapping their knowledge of herbal remedies. Óin pulled at Bilbo’s shirt until the hobbit lifted it up. Óin’s mouth pursed as his eyes ran over the mess that was now Bilbo’s torso. “You did not let on that you were injured in the battle.”

“Oh that’s not from the battle.” Bilbo smiled wryly. “I escaped that unscathed.”

“Where then…” Óin trailed off and his eyes flickered over to where Dizzie was crouched above him on the arm of the sofa. “Oh.”

“It’s healed well enough given the circumstances.” Bilbo said forcing cheer into his voice but the look in Óin’s eyes said that they would be discussing it later when little ears couldn’t hear them.

Óin tutted and prodded at his most recent wound for a few minutes.

“It’s too red for my liking, I’ll give you something to ward off infection.” Bilbo nodded.

“What are you going to give him?” Frodo asked quietly and Óin turned to him, smiling fondly when he saw the fauntling’s worried frown.

“Nothing too strong, just a poultice I make with a mix of a few different herbs that will stop the wound reacting badly to anything that got in it.” Frodo nodded, his frown clearing slightly.

Óin bustled around a few minutes more before declaring that he had other business to attend to and that he would bring the poultice before dinner that evening.

“Well I know what I want to do next.” Bilbo grinned as four pairs of eyes turned to him. “I want a nice warm bath.”

“A bath!” Dizzie cried. “We haven’t had a bath in _forever_!”

“I know, it’s a wonder I can still recognise you both under all that dirt.” Frodo and Dizzie giggled before running off further into the quarters searching for a bathroom of some sort.

“We best go get cleaned up too.” Fili said and despite Kili’s protests he dragged his brother out of the room and for the first time in months Bilbo was alone.

He sighed and rested his head back against the arm of the sofa for a long moment. All in all as reunions go this one had gone much better than he had expected it to. For one there had been no shouting and throwing of furniture. Still, he couldn’t help but worry over how quiet Thorin had been when he’d left. His only consolation was his memories of Thorin on the journey, how he had often turned quiet and pensive when struck with big decisions.

“Daddy! We found the bath! It’s _huge_!” Dizzie’s voice rang out and Bilbo chuckled before forcing himself to the feet. He hurried after his two children determined to put everything else out of his mind until they were clean.

* * *

One steaming bath later and they all emerged pink-cheeked and clean for the first time in a long while. Bilbo refused to put their filthy clothes back on. So he wrapped them all in the too big white towels that were available to them. He decided that he would just ask Fili and Kili to have their things brought up as soon as they could, but to his surprise once he found his way back to the living room their luggage was already there.

He rifled through their things until he found them all the spare pair of good clothes he had packed to be worn on their arrival. Finally washed and dressed in fresh clothes he looked over his children.

They both looked like the fauntlings he had taken from the Shire with him, though Dizzie’s hair was a bit longer and Frodo had grown enough that his trousers were a bit too high on his calf.

“Daddy?” He smiled at Dizzie and she smiled back brightly. “I like the mountain.”

* * *

Dinner was just as frantic as he remembered. Even more so, perhaps, because of their celebrating the hobbit’s return. It was held in what he had been told were Balin’s quarters (but apparently it rotated every night so one dwarf didn’t have to deal with the clean up all the time). Bilbo sat at one end of the table with his fauntlings and there had been a few minutes of fighting before the other dwarves had decided that Bofur and Ori could sit closest to them. Ori gave Bilbo that same sweet smile that he remembered before drawing Frodo into a conversation about the library he’d single-handedly brought back from the brink of destruction. While Bofur charmed Dizzie with a few toy soldiers he had carved for her that very afternoon.

Thorin and Dís entered late and the room fell silent when they came in. Thorin sat at the head of the table with Dís to his left and Fili to his right. The company stared awkwardly between them and Bilbo.

“So… What have I missed in the last few years?” He asked with a smile as all the company immediately started to talk over one another in an effort to give him what they thought was the most important thing about the restoration of Erebor.

After the food had been finished (the last dregs by Bombur) and Dori brought out a few bottles of wine he had been saving for ‘a special occasion’, the company calmed down some. Bilbo found himself sitting in an armchair by the fireplace with Dizzie curled up in his lap and Frodo curled up by his feet. He was grateful to his friends for giving them some space. It was all quite overwhelming.

He contented himself with watching their interactions. The first thing he had noticed was how close Ori and Dwalin were standing. It had his eyebrows rising to his hairline and he shot a look towards Bofur who grinned, and well, if that hadn’t confirmed it the glare on Dori and Nori’s faces would have.

“Is it a new thing?” He asked when the miner made his way over later and Bofur shrugged.

“New enough, still Dwalin’s going about it all in the proper way so Dori can’t really protest that much.”

“The proper way?” Bilbo couldn’t help but ask, confused. In the Shire courting was a very informal process, unique to the couples it pertained to.

“Yeah, he’s going through all the steps the right way. Course Ori doesn’t care ‘bout all that. He told me he’d be happy enough to have a simple yes/no courtship and a quick marriage but Dori refused to even hear of it.” Bofur’s grin widened. “I think he just likes to watch Dwalin squirm.”

“What about you Bofur?” Bilbo asked and Bofur raised an eyebrow. “Have you found anyone here?”

“Me?” Bofur’s face flushed red. “…Maybe.”

“Really?” Bilbo smiled widely. “Which lucky lass or lad caught your eye then?”

Bofur just shook his head, his face turning a darker red as his eyes glanced behind him.

“Oh.” Bilbo understood and dropped the subject. He wondered who of the company had gained his friend’s attention.

“Daddy?”  He hummed in response and Dizzie lifted her head. “M’tired.”

“Okay darling, let’s go to bed shall we?” He asked and she nodded burying her head in his shoulder. Bilbo shot Bofur and apologetic smile and Bofur just shrugged.

“Need some help getting the biters to bed?” He asked but before Bilbo could answer either way a shadow fell over the both of them.

“Perhaps I could help you return to your rooms?” Thorin asked, looking so nervous that there was no way Bilbo could turn him down.

“Of course. If you could just take Dizzie I’ll wake Frodo up. He’s getting a bit big to be carried.” Thorin dutifully took their daughter when Bilbo lifted her up. For a moment he looked like he didn’t know how to hold her, or as if he was, perhaps, afraid of hurting her. Then his hand slipped behind her legs and he leaned her against his shoulder in a way that looked so natural Bilbo knew that he must have done the same thing for his nephews when they were young. “Frodo my boy. It’s time for bed.”

The fauntling groaned but blinked open his eyes and climbed blearily to his feet.

After numerous goodbyes they finally got away and began the short walk to their rooms. Bilbo kept a hand on Frodo’s shoulder to stop the boy wandering the wrong way in his tiredness.

They walked in silence, and Thorin carried Dizzie all the way to her bed, he even tucked the blankets carefully around her. While Bilbo helped Frodo into his nightclothes and into his own bed.

Bilbo followed Thorin out into the living room and he stood awkwardly when Thorin didn’t seem inclined to go much further.

“Would you… uh, would you like to talk?” He asked.

“If you are not too tired.” Thorin said softly. “I have some questions.”

Bilbo nodded and sank down into an armchair, he studied Thorin as the dwarf did the same into one opposite him.

“Ask away.” He said. He would answer everything he could. Thorin deserved to know anything he wanted.

“I spoke with Óin about your wound…” Thorin trailed off as if unsure how to ask.

“He mentioned my scar then?” Bilbo asked and Thorin nodded. Bilbo was neither surprised nor angry; the healer was dutiful to his king before anyone. “Yes, well as you can imagine male births are much trickier since we don’t have the right equipment. I hadn’t quit reached home when the pains started and neither my escort or I had everything we needed to make it go smoothly.”

Bilbo shuddered at the echoes of pain he remembered. He could still feel the panic at the thought of losing his baby, the red of the blood covering his hands, Lisir’s wide-eyed look of anguish. Luckily they were a few days from Rivendell and a scouting party had stumbled across them in time to save him.

“I am sorry.” Thorin said gravely.

“It wasn’t your fault Dizzie came early.” Bilbo smiled but Thorin shook his head.

“Had I not banished you in the first place you would not have believe you had to leave, regardless of what that elf told you. You would have been able to stay in the safety of Erebor during your time.”

Bilbo couldn’t help but shake his head.

“Thorin you were ill when you banished me, I made my peace with that long before I went anywhere, and besides, the only places where I could have had Dizzie unharmed would have been in the Shire or with the elves. We hobbits know what to do, even if it is quite rare, and elvish medicine is advanced enough that they were able to heal me with little effort. Neither Dwarves nor Men have the knowledge or ability to undergo such a procedure. I don’t doubt the same thing would have happened here as it did in the wild.” Though perhaps Bilbo might have been able to instruct them how to go about it, he had been so sure that he would reach Rivendell before Dizzie came that he hadn’t even bothered to inform Lisir how to correctly perform the cut. The poor elf had been beside himself for weeks afterwards.

Thorin nodded, but the line of his jaw said that he most definitely didn’t agree.

“You only glanced over the reason why this was possible.” Thorin said stiffly and Bilbo shrugged.

“We hobbits don’t know much about it ourselves, there’s been a few guesses made by the more curious hobbits but it’s only those of the Took line that have the ability and Tooks aren’t best known for their brains. Instead they just learned all they could about the process of the pregnancy and warned all the boys that if they were to be dallying with other boys that there was the possibility. Obviously a lesson I did not take to heart.” Bilbo said dryly and Thorin frowned.

“You would have taken precautions?” Thorin asked and Bilbo laughed.

“Of course I would have!” He exclaimed. “I was going to face a dragon in the next few days and then with the battle afterwards, not to mention rebuilding a city isn’t exactly the most stable environment. I don’t regret having Dizzie for a moment, but if things had gone any differently I could have very easily lost her before I even had the chance to know her, and I think that would have been more painful than not starting a life in the first place.”

Thorin nodded, biting his lip.

“I was wondering about Frodo.” Thorin said. “I did not want to ask in front of the boy but I can only assume something befell his parents?”

“Yes, they drowned in a bad crossing of the Brandybuck river. The boat overturned with Frodo in it and he was the only one who managed to get to safety.” Bilbo frowned down at his hands, thinking about how long it had taken to get the boy anywhere near a body of water again. He had refused to bathe for four months straight. “Drogo was my cousin and Prim was one of my closest friends, I had to take the boy in.”

“I am sorry for your loss.” Thorin said and Bilbo sighed.

“It’s been a few years, the pain of it has dulled some. I just try to tell Frodo as many stories of them as I can so that he doesn’t forget them.”

“We did the same with Vili, Fili and Kili’s father. He died in a mining accident when Kili was a babe.” Bilbo nodded smiling sadly. The boys had told him the story on their travels.

“Is there anything else you want to know?” He asked and Thorin shook his head, but he made no move to get up. “Are you sure?”

“There are no more questions pressing on my mind… and yet I find myself wanting to know everything.” Thorin looked up at Bilbo and the hobbit was suddenly struck by how blue his eyes were. “I know it is impossible to get back those years but…”

“But I can tell you stories.” Bilbo smiled, reaching over and patting Thorin’s arm. “Now where shall I begin?”

Bilbo talked into the wee hours of the morning, until his throat was hoarse and his eyes were closing against his will. The next thing he knew he was lying down in a soft bed, a hand stroking the curls away from his forehead.

“Sleep Bilbo. We shall speak tomorrow.”

So sleep he did.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr [here](http://madame-hobbit.tumblr.com/)


End file.
